Balyasny Asset Management L.P. Increases Stock Position in Equinix, Inc. $EQIX

Key Points

• Balyasny Asset Management sharply increased its Equinix stake by 709.3% in the fourth quarter, ending with 286,288 shares worth about $219.3 million.
• Several analysts remain constructive on Equinix, with recent buy and outperform ratings and a consensus target price of about $1,143.60.
• Equinix reported strong quarterly earnings, posting EPS of $10.79 versus expectations of $4.30, while also paying a quarterly dividend of $5.16 per share.

Balyasny Asset Management L.P. increased its position in shares of Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX - Free Report) by 709.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 286,288 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 250,914 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. owned 0.29% of Equinix worth $219,342,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in Equinix by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 498 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $382,000 after buying an additional 13 shares in the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc boosted its holdings in Equinix by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 595 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $456,000 after buying an additional 13 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in Equinix by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 233 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $179,000 after buying an additional 13 shares in the last quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC boosted its holdings in Equinix by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 397 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $304,000 after buying an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Warwick Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Equinix by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Warwick Investment Management Inc. now owns 922 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $706,000 after buying an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. 94.94% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equinix

In other news, Chairman Charles J. Meyers sold 5,224 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,085.23, for a total value of $5,669,241.52. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman directly owned 7,370 shares in the company, valued at $7,998,145.10. This represents a 41.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Christopher B. Paisley sold 125 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,060.29, for a total transaction of $132,536.25. Following the sale, the director owned 17,557 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $18,615,511.53. The trade was a 0.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 11,539 shares of company stock valued at $12,455,054 over the last ninety days. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Equinix in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Oppenheimer reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $1,200.00 price target on shares of Equinix in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Equinix from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of Equinix from $1,050.00 to $1,120.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a "buy" rating and set a $1,207.00 price objective on shares of Equinix in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $1,143.60.

Equinix Stock Performance

NASDAQ:EQIX opened at $1,088.52 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a current ratio of 1.18. The company has a fifty day moving average of $1,070.84 and a two-hundred day moving average of $931.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $107.35 billion, a PE ratio of 75.33, a P/E/G ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 0.99. Equinix, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $710.52 and a fifty-two week high of $1,128.68.

Equinix (NASDAQ:EQIX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The financial services provider reported $10.79 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.30 by $6.49. The company had revenue of $2.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.52 billion. Equinix had a net margin of 15.07% and a return on equity of 10.03%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $9.67 earnings per share. Equinix has set its FY 2026 guidance at 42.310-43.110 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Equinix, Inc. will post 38.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equinix Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 20th were given a $5.16 dividend. This represents a $20.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 20th. Equinix's dividend payout ratio is 142.84%.

Equinix Profile

Equinix, Inc is a global provider of digital infrastructure and interconnection services, specializing in carrier-neutral data centers and colocation. The company operates a platform that enables enterprises, cloud and network service providers, and content companies to colocate IT infrastructure, interconnect directly with partners and providers, and access cloud on-ramps and network services in a secure, low-latency environment.

Equinix's offerings include traditional colocation space and power, cross-connects and meet-me rooms, and a suite of connectivity and on-demand services designed for hybrid multicloud architectures.

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